Last week (17 May 2023), the Court of Justice delivered its judgment on the case No C-264/22, Fonds de Garantie des Victimes des Actes de Terrorisme et d’Autres Infractions (FGTI) v. Victoria Seguros SA.
The dispute in the main proceeding raises a rather interesting question on the interpretation of Arts 4, 15 and 19 of Regulation (EC) No 864/2007 (Rome II).
FGTI – a French body which covers, inter alia, compensation due for accident – agreed with a French citizen, before a French court, a compensation for the damage suffered as a result of the accident of which he was the victim in Portugal. Later, FGTI brought an action before a Portuguese court claiming payment against Victoria Seguros SA, who insured the civil liability of the party responsible for the harm, seeking an order to reimburse the agreed compensation. Since Portuguese and French law diverge on the limitation period for the right to damages, the Court of Appeal of Lisbon (Tribunal da Relação de Lisboa) referred the following question for a preliminary ruling: “is the law applicable to the limitation rules for the right to claim compensation that of the place of the accident (Portuguese law), in accordance with Arts 4(l) and 15(h) of Regulation No 864/2007 or, if the injured party’s place is taken by subrogation, is the ‘law of the third person’ subrogee (French law) applicable in accordance with Art 19 of that Regulation?”
In the decision, the Court of Justice stated that Arts 4(1), 15(h) and 19 of Regulation No 864/2007 must be interpreted “as meaning that the law which governs the action of a third party subrogated to the rights of an injured party against the person who caused the damage and which determines, in particular, the rules on limitation in respect of that action is, in principle, that of the country in which that damage occurs”.
On Rome II Regulation, the readers of RDIPP may refer to:
Gabriella Carella, 2005, No 1, 25 ff.; Russell J. Weintraub, 2005, No 3, 561 ff.; Alberto Malatesta, 2006, No 1, 47 ff.; Luís de Lima Pinheiro, 2008, No 1, 5 ff.; Cristina M. Mariottini, 2012, No 3, 647 ff.; Lidia Sandrini, 2013, No 3, 677 ff.; Paola Ivaldi, 2013, No 4, 869 ff.; Filippo Marchetti, 2017, No 4, 883 ff.